Tentacle surgery

[spinycheek]

MY Sepia bandensis must've been trying to eat something on my powerhead, a Koralia nano, because she got one of her feeding tentacles sucked in it. Now it is way stretched out and presumably permanently damaged. I let her sit overnight with it so see if it would de-swell and possibly heal on its own. It is just dangling there now and I'm thinking I might have to take a scalpel and just slice it off.

Does anyone have any experience/suggestions about this? Would surgical removal be a good option?

[cuttlegirl]

I would give it a few days to heal before thinking about surgery. Even then, I am not sure I would attempt surgery. How would you keep her still? How would you make sure she was getting enough oxygen? And you could make her susceptible to infection if you cut off her tentacle.

[L8 2 RISE]

If she's fine with the tentacle the way it is, but it just looks wierd, I would just leave it.

[DWhatley]

Will the feeding tentacles grow back? I assume not but really don't know. This was a deliberation I had with OhToo who's arm did not grow back noramally (injury and defective regrowth occured before capture). The general consensus was that the unusual regrowth (suckerless arm for 3/4 the length but suckers at the tip) may have been from additional damage during regrowth. In theory, removing the arm would have allowed a new healthy arm to grow in its place but the concerns Cuttlegirl brings up made me decide against interferring. Supposedly octopuses don't bleed for very long but infection is a major concern. Later, OhTwo had one on that arm and eventually one in his eye that led to his old age death (none of my others have had infections) so not interferring was likely the best choice.

[spinycheek]

Well, she looks terrible. She hasn't moved all day and her pupils are way dilated. She just sits on a patch of caulerpa with her tentacle hanging down. I was thinking surgery would involve a very quick slice with a brand new scalpel blade. Not ideal, but there's no way I'd attempt doing any anesthesia or anything because I've never done it.

Thanks for the quick replies.

[L8 2 RISE]

IMHO, with her in that state, it sounds like she might not survive, and I think amputation would just stress her out more and risk infection. I would really just leave her be and cross your fingers. This is the reason I don't suggest koralia's and similar.

[spinycheek]

L8 2 Rise, you called it, she died. Although she was still technically alive becasue her chromatophores were going off, her tentacles went all stiff and she stopped responding to any stimuli. Her head drooped down and her eyes were fully dilated. I ended up euthanizing her, it really sucked. I thought those pumps were safe because she's always perched on them with no problem, but this time she shot a tentacle into it. I think some of it had to do with her age, she was fairly old and my guess is she just couldn't handle the trauma of the whole ordeal.

I will miss her.

[smalljerm]

i had the exact same problem, but mine died when i left it over night. really sad though. :goodbye:

[spinycheek]

Bummer. I caught mine within seconds and it still wasn't enough to save it. I was doing sit-ups and I went up and all was good. Came up again 4 seconds later and the cuttle was caught in the pump. It took me about 30 seconds to figure out which cord to unplug, but the damage had already been done.

[monty]

sorry to hear she didn't make it :sad:

[cuttlegirl]

So sorry - it is really hard when they die :sad:.

[Nancy]

Im very sorry for your loss. RIP little cuttle

Maybe we haven't made this really clear, but you have to protect your ceph from any pump, because so often they will stick and arm or tentacle into this dangerous area. This applies to cuttlefish as well as octopuses.

Now of course, from time to time someone gets away with it and keep an octopus or a cuttlefish in a tank with an unprotected pump. But please, take care to use mesh or sponge protect curious arms. We've had quite a few injuries and deaths from jiust this problem over time. Some pumps and intakes can be protected with sponge or mesh, and others could be switched out for safer versions.


Nancy

[L8 2 RISE]

Bummer. I caught mine within seconds and it still wasn't enough to save it. I was doing sit-ups and I went up and all was good. Came up again 4 seconds later and the cuttle was caught in the pump. It took me about 30 seconds to figure out which cord to unplug, but the damage had already been done.

4 seconds for a push up??? :tomato: lol

Really sorry for your loss.

[spinycheek]

Im very sorry for your loss. RIP little cuttle

Maybe we haven't made this really clear, but you have to protect your ceph from any pump, because so often they will stick and arm or tentacle into this dangerous area. This applies to cuttlefish as well as octopuses.

Now of course, from time to time someone gets away with it and keep an octopus or a cuttlefish in a tank with an unprotected pump. But please, take care to use mesh or sponge protect curious arms. We've had quite a few injuries and deaths from jiust this problem over time. Some pumps and intakes can be protected with sponge or mesh, and others could be switched out for safer versions.


Nancy


Yep, I guess I figured a Koralia was gentle enough, as I screened off my other pump intakes. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way.


4 seconds for a push up??? lol

Well first off, it was a sit up. And second, the slower you go, the more of a workout you get...8-)

[Tundra Cuttle]

Spiny is right about the sit-up. Things happen so fast though, and it is hard to control for all variables.